Television Production: Course Associates

Course Associates are industry supporters who guide the course as a steering panel ensuring it remains current and relevant. They also regularly come in to hold workshops, sit on selection panels and advise students on their projects and careers. From a diverse range of backgrounds, they all bring expert, up-to-date insight that prepares students for their future careers in TV.

Alice Troughton – Drama Director

Alice Troughton is an internationally-acclaimed director working between the UK and the US. Having recently lead directed and executive produced Baghdad Central (2020) for Channel 4, she is also known for her work on the award-winning shows The Living and The Dead (BBC), Cucumber (Channel 4) and Dr Who (BBC). Her work in US includes NETFLIX series Lost in Space, and CW’s The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. Last year she finished Tin Star Series 3 for Sky. She is currently working as lead director and executive producer on Sky Atlantic’s serial adaptation of the John Wyndham classic sci-fi novel The Midwich Cuckoos.

Simon Kerfoot – Award-winning Executive Producer

Simon Kerfoot has worked on a variety of outputs including Channel 4’s The Hotel, the last three series of One Born Every Minute and the first series of Surgeons: At the Edge of Life for BBC Two. Simon has spent his career making both series and single documentaries for a variety of UK and International broadcasters ranging from David Walliams’ Big Swim, Hairy Bikers Mississippi Adventure, groundbreaking social experiments like Young Mum and Dad’s Mansion and quirky hits such as The Whale that Blew up in the Street.

James Poole – Outside Broadcast Unit Manager, Timeline TV

James Poole is an accomplished Outside Broadcast Unit Manager with over a decade of experience planning and managing the delivery of live and recorded productions. James has worked on live sport, the arts, political programmes and brand projects. He was the lead on site Engineering Manager for the BAFTA nominated BBC Sport coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019.

James’ role involves working with the production team, managing the technical broadcast planning, logistics and H&S, as well as bringing together and managing different contractors and suppliers, finding innovative, joined-up technical solutions to realise the production teams’ creative ambitions. James joined Timeline TV in 2019 at a key time in the company’s expansion. As well as being a market-leading provider of UHD HDR outside broadcasts facilities, Timeline is now also established as the go-to technical partner for remote production.

Azhur Saleem – Award-winning Drama Director

Azhur Saleem is an award-winning director who has worked on a variety of shorts films, series, branded advertisement and motion-capture for video games. His most recent short film, MUSE premiered online via DUST after screening at international festivals. Diversity is key to his work, he creates content that challenges the perception of the type of stories BAME filmmakers should be creating. He is currently directing three episodes on a flagship BBC drama and previously has worked as 2nd Unit Director on Baghdad Central for Channel 4/Euston Films.